Alpha's Faire

XIX

Raphael had no idea what the hell he was doing. He gritted his teeth together and tried to focus on his beta's voice on the other end of the call. But before he knew it, the addictive scent of honeycomb and cinnamon surrounded his senses. He looked up to find her walking over to the staircase with Captain Shou. Her sweet scent lured him in and he couldn't stop himself from staring.

Dr. Lewis was a captivating woman. She naturally drew attention to herself and would have even if there weren't any scandals attached to her name. The woman was slender but not skinny. She was healthy and fit for her height. But that wasn't just it. Dr. Jess Lewis had voluptuous curves that even caused Raphael's eyes to linger. But he wasn't leering at her body, not like the men in the lobby were at the moment. No, there was more to her than that, much more.

She was an enigma that Raphael couldn't ignore. And it was honestly starting to grate on his nerves. To make things worse, as if she knew he was there, she turned to lock eyes with him. Her deep blue sapphire eyes reminded him of a night sky, twinkling in the light. He felt drawn to her, immediately forgetting that Jacob was on the other line of the call. Raphael felt himself slip into a trance-like state. For a moment, it was just the two of them embedded in a wordless exchange. He didn't even notice what time had actually passed until she blinked.

Her soft pink lips parted as a gasp passed through her lips. Dr. Lewis looked away, startled at Shou whose features dramatically grew serious. Raphael watched as the dhampir pull her away. His golden eyes flickered over to Raphael's gray ones with a furrowed brow. His mouth went tight but Raphael could guess that the man was gritting his teeth. Shou was annoyed.

Well, that made two of them. Raphael wasn't one for spacing. But somehow, he went into a daze just then. That wasn't what disturbed him the most though. Irritation rose in his body as he watched Dr. Lewis be dragged away with Shou. That was what concerned him the most. What the hell was wrong with him? Why should he care about their relationship?

But at the same time, Shou wasn't acting like earlier. He seemed pretty content with their open relationship, so why should he be jealous of a staredown between Raphael and Dr. Lewis? It didn't make much sense.

"Alpha? Hello?" Jacob called out on the other line.

"Yeah?" Raphael replied, hoarsely. "What's up?"  He tried to focus on the details that Jacob was passing along. But soon after Shou and Jess left, a crowd began to discreetly follow the two.

"Was that Captain Shou of the Knights?"

"Are they really going to⁠—"

"We should make sure that no rules of conduct are violated."

"Yeah, we should." The damn incessant chatter only grated on his nerves even more. He couldn't focus. They were so damn noisy. What happened to privacy? Were they were really going to follow them?

And what the hell were they going to do? Raphael's sanity snapped. He couldn't stand this. The grip on his phone tightened as his other hand ran through his hair.

"Sorry, Jake. I need you to hold for a moment." Raphael growled lowly, muting the microphone on the phone. He breathed in slowly, trying to not crush the damn device in his hands. Raphael walked over to where a small crowd was forming at the edge of the building. It seemed to fill the hall with the exception at the very end, where people stood a good two feet away from the door. Raphael took in the oak door's label. Dr. Lewis and Shou took refuge in a supply closet. His fist clenched. Could they be more fucking obvious?

It didn't help that you could hear a thud against the door, followed by the sound of Dr. Lewis's gasp.

"You have a mate." Her voice squeaked.

"And if I said I didn't give a shit?" Shou's low tone made the hall freeze, even Raphael paused in place. Gasps and gaps followed the sound, and Raphael's eyes narrowed. Was he really interested in taking Dr. Jess Lewis as his mate? Was that the reason why he was so concerned about earlier? Did he feel threatened?

For some reason, Raphael's fist clenched at the thought of Shou and Dr. Lewis being together. And that made him even more irritated. He ran his hand through his hair once more, releasing a growl of frustration.

Fuck. What was wrong with him?

The crowd paused in their hushed chatter at the sound, because it wasn't low. It echoed in the hall, people froze in place.

"I hope that everyone here is doing their jobs diligently, and not loitering." The words came out before he even knew it. Suppressed fury rolled off him in waves. Some immediately started to vacate in fear of the Alpha. Then the door opened and everyone turned away to feign other interests. Raphael followed suit, not wanting to be caught. But it was a pointless effort.

"Alpha Stone, what brings you here?" Shou piped up next to him. Raphael's teeth gritted together. The damn dhampir. He turned around to face Shou sporting a smug smirk on his face and his arm wrapped around Dr. Lewis's waist. Raphael's nose burned as the smell of honeycomb and cinnamon tickled it. It was mixed with Shou's and almost smelled sour to Raphael. Raphael's lips curled into a frown at the smell of it. His eyes glanced over at Dr. Lewis whose blue eyes bore into him, bewildered and confused as to why he was here. Raphael's gaze trailed down to the nape of her neck, which displayed a large purpled bruise. It was fucking irritating, for no reason.

"If you two want to get physical, go to your own damn office." He growled before walking away. "I don't care what you two do, but at the very least, don't cause a distraction from the task at hand here."

He didn't need to deal with this.
——

So I totally wrote this while sick, but the amount of support over the last few days has been overwhelming and I wanted to give you an additional chapter this week.
Let me know if you enjoyed it.